Community Needs Assessment
Service Intake Surveys
Contextualizing Community Needs
Below we bring together information about community members seeking services from Network2Work and from the United Way’s child care coordinated enrollment system to better understand the scale of community needs.
We also show population-level estimates among a subset of the regional population that aligns with service-seekers. These estimates are derived from the 2019-2023 American Community Survey Public Use Microdata samples for the region.1 These population benchmarks provide some context against which to understand the needs of service-seekers and speak to the larger scope of unmet needs within the region.
Because Network2work and United Way’s Go2Grow serve different populations, we provide population benchmarks for both.
- Network2Work: The Network2Work intake survey includes 441
job-seekers who enrolled in the program between July 1, 2022 and June
30, 2024 from the region (see below). By definition, these community
members are seeking employment. The earned annual wages among those
seeking services ranged between $0 and $70,000, with a median value of
$15,700.2
Respondents to this survey are individuals.
- Population benchmark: The population benchmark data includes person-level data for individuals between the ages of 18 to 65 who are in the labor force (though not necessarily currently employed) with wages below $75,000.3
- United Way: The United Way’s coordinated enrollment intake survey
includes 1,442 child-care seekers who enrolled between July 1, 2023 and
June 30, 2024 from the region (see below). By definition, these
community members have at least one child under 6 at home. The family
income among those seeking services ranged between $0 and $160,000, with
a median value of $34,700.4 Respondents to this survey represent family
households.
- Population benchmark: The population benchmark data includes family-level data for families with at least one child under 6 and with family incomes below $160,000.5
Who are service seekers?
Locality
Both Network2Work and United Way’s Go2Grow serve residents beyond the localities shown here. However, the intake data was restricted to residents of Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson.
Combined
Network2Work
United Way
Age
Combined
Network2Work
United Way
Sex
Combined
Network2Work
United Way
Race
Combined
Network2Work
United Way
Ethnicity
Combined
Network2Work
United Way
Resources and Challenges
Education
Combined
Network2Work
United Way
Disability
Combined
Network2Work
United Way
Military service
Combined
Network2Work
United Way
System-Impacted
There is no local benchmark data on the number or percent of residents who have been impacted by carcereal systems.
Combined
Language
Only the United Way intake survey includes any notable number of residents who primarily speak a language other than English at home.
Combined
Network2Work
United Way
Family
Children at Home
By definition, child-care seekers have young children at home.
Combined
Network2Work
United Way
The population benchmark was defined as families with a child under the age of 6 living at home.
Childcare Needs
By definition, the United Way child-care seekers all need support finding and affording child care. Only responses from Network2Work job-seekers are shown here. There is no local comparable population benchmark available.
Combined
Single Parenting
Combined
Network2Work
United Way
Employment and Benefits
Employment
Combined
Network2Work
United Way
Receiving SNAP Benefits
Combined
Network2Work
United Way
Income
Income data from United Way’s child-care seekers was inconsistently available. Thus, it is not used here.
Combined
Network2Work
Housing and Transportation
Housing Instability
Job seekers with unstable housing indicated that they either needed to find another place to live in the next 14 days, 1 month, or 3 months or that they neither rent nor own their current residence but instead jump from couch to couch, live in a hotel, are staying in an emergency shelter, or live in a place not meant for housing (e.g., a car).
Child-care seekers with unstable housing indicated that they are currently living in temporary or transitional housing, are currently experiencing homelessness, or live in a campground, motel, or shelter. Additionally, child-care seekers who did not report currently unstable housing but indicated having moved at least twice in more than one year or more than twice in three years are identified as experiencing prior instability or frequent movement.
Combined
Network2Work
Approximately identical measures are not available in the population benchmark data. Instead, related measures are shown: the percent who have moved within the last year, or not moved; the percent who’s households are overcrowded (with more than two people per bedroom or more than one person per rooms overall), or not overcrowded; and the percent who are severely housing burdened (pay more than 50% of income on shelter), housing burdened (pay between 30% and 50% of income on shelter), and not housing burdened.
United Way
Approximately identical measures are not available in the population benchmark data. Instead, related measures are shown: the percent who have moved within the last year, or not moved; the percent who’s households are overcrowded (with more than two people per bedroom or more than one person per rooms overall), or not overcrowded; and the percent who are severely housing burdened (pay more than 50% of income on shelter), housing burdened (pay between 30% and 50% of income on shelter), and not housing burdened.
Transportation needs
Job seekers who indicated that they need help getting to work, plan to walk, or whose ride may be unreliable are identified as not having reliable transportation; those who indicated they have car access but the car would not pass inspection or was not registered are identified as having car access that isn’t reliable or registered; those who indicated having a very reliable ride, having reliable car access with up-to-date inspections and registrations, or who plan to take the bus are identified as not having transportation needs.
Only child-care seekers who answered they did not have reliable transportation are identified as not having reliable transportation. Child-care seekers were also asked if transportation or working hours posed barriers in getting their child to school.
Combined
Network2Work
Approximately identical measures are not available in the population benchmark data. Instead, related measures are shown: the percent of households with access to at least one car, or not; the percent of workers who commute to work in their own car, in a carpool, by public transportation, or by other means.
United Way
Approximately identical measures are not available in the population benchmark data. Instead, related measures are shown: the percent of households with access to at least one car, or not; the percent of workers who commute to work in their own car, in a carpool, by public transportation, or by other means.
The Public Use Microdata Areas for the greater Charlottesville region include respondents from Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson.↩︎
The wage range is based on the 99th percentile value to minimize outliers.↩︎
The benchmark population based on these criteria make up 36% of the regional population.↩︎
The family income range is based on the 97.5th percentile value to minimize outliers.↩︎
The benchmark population based on these criteria make up 6% of the regional households.↩︎